Hon. Douglas A. Newton Opinion No. C-110 

District Attorney 

63rd Judicial District 

Courthouse 

Del Rio, !J!exae 

Re: 

Dear Mr. Newton: 

You have requested the opinion of this office aa to the 

Amount of salary due 

retired judges called 

to active duty under 

the provisions of' 

Article 2OOa, V.C.S. 

correct amount of salary that 1s payable to a retlred district 

judge who Is called to active duty on the bench by the Preeldlng Judge of an Admln$straflve Judicial District, unaer the 

provisions of Article 2OOa, Vernon's Civil Statutes. 

Section 5a.of Article 200a, V.C.S., reads in part a8 

follows: 

” 

. . . 

'IThe compensation, salaries and expenses of 

such (retired) judges wh&le 80 assigned or reassigned shall be paid ln accordance with the laws 

of the state, except that the salary of such retired judges shall be paid out of moneys appropriated 

from the Qeneral Revenue Fund for such purpose in an 

amount repreeentlng the difference between~all of the 

retirement benefits of such judge as a retired district 

judge and the salary and compenaatlon from all sources 

of the judge of the court wherein he Is amlgned, and 

determlned pro-rata for the period of time he actually sits a8 such assigned judge. Added Acte 1957# 

55th Leg., 

plied) 

p. 1.236; ch. 408, sec. 1." ,(Fimphasls supSince the pa&age of thls Act, the Comptroller of Public 

Accounts has Interpreted the above provision to mean that the 

payment6 from the General Revenue Fund shall bk made for only 

iztepart of the regular judge's salary that Is paid by the 

The Comptroller's construction operates to exclude from 

the c&nputation any salary that la.recelved by the regular judge 

from the county because of admlnletratlve duties or memherehip 

on a juvenile boaxd.~ A county la, authorized or directed to make 

-543- 
. . 

Hon. Douglas A. Newton, Page 2. . (C-110 ) 

these payments to a regular judge by virtue of statute, and these 

payments become part of the salary of the regular districtjudge. 

Holland v. Harris County, 129 Tex. 118, 102 S.W.2d 196 (1937). 

The Comptroller views the Holland case, supra, as authority 

for Ns position that the State l-red to pay only the pro 

rata part of the regular district judge's salary that Is received 

from the State, relying on the fact that the Holland case held 

that Harris County was required to pay to Ju&ge Holfand a pro 

rata share of what it normally paid to the regular district 

judge for Ns activities In connection with the juvenile board 

of the county. Holland does not support the position of the 

Comptroller In this regard, for the following reasons: (1) 

Holland was concerned with a special judge appointed under the 

iTFGZ%Tons of Article 6821, V.C.S.; (2) Article 6821, V.O.S., 

provides that a special judge shall receive the "ssme pay" as 

a regular district judge, but makes no special provision as to 

the source of that pay. It seems quite olear then, and the 

Holland case so assumed, that the pay for the special judge was 

to from the same sources a8 the pay of the regular judge. 

Insofar as an Interpretation of Article 2OOa la concerned, the 

Holland case Is authority only for the proposition that statutory compensation for admlnlstratlve duties or juvenile board 

duties Is considered to be part of a judge's 'Pegular salary. 

It should be noted that In 1961, the Legislature enacted 

Articles 6819a-19b, 6819a-25a and 681ga-26: These statutes 

apply respectively to Harris County, Bexar and Dallas Counties, 

and to Tarrant County. 

each statute, we will 

Since the phraseology Is similar In 

one of them, Article 68 

uote the pertinent portion from only 

19a-19b: 

"Section 1. (a) . . . Any district judge of the 

State who may be assigned to sit for the judge of any 

district court In such counties under the provisions 

of Article 200-A, Revised Civil Statutes, may, while 

80 serving, receive In addition to Ns necessary expenses, additional compensation from county funds In 

an amount hot to exceed the difference between the 

pay of such visiting judge from all sources and that 

pay received from all sources by district judges In 

the counties affected by the provisions of this Act, 

such amount to be paid by the county upon approval 

of the presiding judge In which said court Is located." 

It is the contention of the Comptroller that the above cited 

statutes buttress their constrmotlon of the language of Artlcle 2OOa, In that here the Legislature has clearly expressed 

an Intention to impose upon the counties the burden of paying 

their share of the costs of assigning a retired judge to sit. 

-544- 
Ron. Douglas Ai.Neeon,~Page ,3.:::. (C410) :' .~ 

We do not agree with that view of the action taken by the Leglslature In the above cited statutes. 

6819a-2z 

the enactment of Articles 6819a-lgb, 6819a-25a, and 

the Legislature has clearly placed upon the particular 

counties concerned the burden of paying the compensation bf 

retired judges called under the provisions of Article 2OOa. The 

counties concerned with these enactments are the largest In this 

State, &nd presumably the ones most able to meet any unexpeoted 

financial outlay, euch as the salary of,sn additional dlstrlct 

court judge. We must further note that, at the same session of 

the Legislature that ,enacted the three statutes above referred 

to, granting additional compensation to district judges of certain counties, the Legislature enacted five other similzix statutes, 

'affecting smaller oountles , and excluded the provision for county 

payment of expenditures necessitated b the calling of a.retlred 

8% under Article 2OOa. (Articles 6&a-lga, 681ga-27, 6819a-, 

lga-29, 6819a-30). This Is compelling evidence of the Leglslailve Intent, and must override the Departmental construction 

placed upon It by the Comptroller. 

In view of the foregoing, we must hold that' the plain 

language of Article 2OOa, sectlon 5a, V.C.S., Is controlling. 

A retired judge assigned under the provisions of the Act Is 

entitled to have his compensation based upon the total~statutory salary of the district judge for whom he Is assigned, regardless of whether such salary comes from the State or from 

the county and shall be paid out of moneys approprlated,from 

the General Revenue Fund for such purpose. 

SUMMARY' 

When a retired district judge Is assigned under the provlslons of Article 

2OOa, V.C.S., his compensatlon~ls to 

be baaeU upon the total,statuto??y salary of the dlstrlot judge for whom he 

Is assigned, regardless of whether such 

salary comes from the Sta$e or from 

the county and shall be paid out of 

-545- 
Hon. Douglas A. Newton,' pages ,a. '(C-110 1 

moneys appropriated from the General 

Revenue Fund for such purpose. 

Yours very truly, 

WAGGONER CARR 

Attorney General 

MLQ:jh:zt 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITPEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Pat Bailey 

Frank Booth 

Cecil Rotsch 

HowardMaya 

'APPROVEDFOR THE ATpORNi%MNEFiAL 

By: Stanton Stone 

-546